It had only been a mere few hours since his fight was brought to a distasteful halt. Inari was sure he might've lost his life in the process but his right to defend his honor and pride was not for the nobles of the Acrix to dictate. Yet again his quarry was snatched from him, his pedestal usurped. He found himself cradled in thought. The fight with Aerys alone revealed harrowing truths about himself that he still struggled to grasp and honor. That despite the chasm that was his potential he was still a novice in terms of wielding his bloodline. A notion that he could not deny. As much as he wanted to sound a horn of triumph despite not knowing anything about the Myotis he was on the fast track to mastering their arts. When in truth everything he displaced so far was displaced memories from sporadic echoes of his birth rune. What should he have expected? He was so fixated on what set him apart and what defined his difference, that he continuously ignored what connected him. What made him a part of something else? Not even realizing at the time that he was in no race, no hurry, and that this process could not be rushed. He had been in such a determined frenzy to find his people for the sake of power.The skies were bathed in a light that shredded through the heat calming the insane temperatures. He himself found the last echoes of his naten being brought to a crippling halt. He couldn't muster up a single spell. The images paraded his consciousness instilling a false calm. False for him as he was quite irritated. But the fact that he could not access his naten forced him into submission. He stood down. Aerys was a fierce opponent unlike anything or anyone Inari had ever encountered. It totally opened his eyes to the league that he still had not joined. He was not disheartened though...no very far from it. To know there were still peaks for him to reach, a mountain still left to climb. He would refashion this... fallacy into something greater, to make himself greater.
Amrit: What was it like for you, to cut down those who you could have called kin?
The rumbling voice of his familiar. His fist balled. Thinking back to the moment his mother spoke to him through his birth rune. His birth rune allowed him to commune with former owners. One of the few hereditary Birth Runes in the nine families. As it was now could only offer glimmers of insight and featured knowledge. Beyond sporadic encounters with his mother, he hasn't experienced anyone beyond her. With her, he spoke about why he decided to find the Myotis. The shift in view he was faced with upon meeting the Wizard King.
“It was like remembering a promise, one that you’ve broken and now can never fulfill."
Bora, the Orc he slew when he first regained consciousness. What he now understands is that that was the day he was reincarnated. The night…of the Scarlet Moon.
“That night I took a child from his parent, a grandchild from their grandmother. In this contest, I have done the same. Had I known what I know now…I”
Until he connected with the roots of his family tree he would never be where Aerys was let alone where the Tyre crown would evolve. He could no longer navigate this world as an unruly power-hungry beast flinging magic to and fro. He needed to understand the breadth of his ability more importantly he needed to see with his own eyes. Feel with his own hands the part of his blood that sings to him. The only true way to do that was to hear from the Myotis themselves what happening in The First Advent Of The Scarlet Moon. People who have always been swayed by the moon for a reason yet still to be defined were consumed by it and massacred many innocents.
"Quite arrogant of me"
He whispered into the empty room around him. He saw the likes of Ovan and the Tyre be escorted after the fray. He was met with no such kindness. Merely directed me to his room to rest should he need it.
"How did I react differently than the single most scarring moment of the Myotis history? I killed … with little regard for those who might've mourned them. I would've even killed the Tyre."
He sucked his teeth
"If I had the strength."
His mother asked what would obtaining the throne mean to one with no regard for it. Inari had never known a parent's love, the kinship of community. He has only ever known solitude, isolation, and the pursuit of things he cannot obtain. Threw Bora though…he was able to feel it and sense then has been tugging between his emotions. He felt…
Amrit: How interesting it is to see the look of regret on your face. I never thought I’d see the day. It's a bit pathetic, you would lament a warriors death?
Regret…yes, regret. He had told himself so long as he was harrowing down a path of his choosing that he would care not for the blood needing to be spilled. That it was all needed to reach his goal...
“Am I?”
Amrit: Feel it, let your soul know that pit. Within you is an ever-burning flame of vengeance. There is no escaping the flaring abyss of your heart Inari. My very existence is proof of it. But, that said. I also have learned from the Wizard King. To grow one must have negative space. Rage is an emotion that needs to be felt and is not inherently good or evil. What you choose to do with it what you point it at. That determines its nature. Be careful though that your wallowing does not anchor you to despair. You are finally allowing yourself to experience the nuances of morality. It is not a thing so easily mastered.
A thin crimson mist began to seep from within Inari coagulating before him. Amrit would manifest his world form. Gazing at Inari with eyes like calming rivers. A change from the glaring madness they usually exude.
Amrit: Let go of your grief Inariel. They faced you with the thrill of battle the adrenaline and blood of their ancestors coursing through them. They died the warrior's death. You sit upon a throne of possibility. For now, in this very moment, you now hold with you a power greater than any you could think to conjure.
Inari stared at his partner with a seriously confused face. As he was now Inari had never felt so pitiful. The more he tried to shed cycles the more entwined in the loop he became. Like a noose around his neck.
Amrit: Grr, sulking, saturated in defeat. like a damped wick that once gave way to a scintillating flame.
The spirit sighed
Amrit: A crossroads. One who’s direction only you can decide. You are the claw that carves, the fang that sculpts. You have the power of choice. Are you the prey or the hunter?
Inari's eyes widened a sharp breath filled his lungs
The battle with Drought; Ravenger of the Horsemen. A sobering battle to say the least yet one that ended with the creature’s defeat. The words he chose, the pride behind them. He was not defined by any one thing any one belief besides that in himself. How ridiculous that he would now find himself bound by feelings of regrets a trinket of grief. He was dishonoring them…"I see you beast...for what you are."
He said as his eyes connected with Drought peepers. The massive ball of blood and aura would begin to shrink rapidly.
"You are a puppet"
The ball continued to shrink until it became the size of a basketball
"A trinket, a bauble. Shackle, anchored by another's whims."
Allen would smash his left hand into the gooey power source. After a few seconds separate them to create a long spear of the blood.
"I remain free, no bindings. My will is my own!"
“Amrit…”
He said gritting his teeth trying to keep his eyes from watering.
"Amrit, how is it..that I've come to see you as a valued friend?"
Amrit would open more than they had since he first came to be.
“And you are right. Soaking in misery lamenting the dead does nothing to honor the memory of who and what they were. To reget them is to bring shame to the death of warriors. They were not petty civilians but the offspring of kings and queens, valiant combatants who fell to another warrior. The greatest honor would be seeing my goal fulfilled. Continuing on my path and being honest with myself.”
Amrit: Inari
“I want to know what it is like Amrit, to embrace another person the way I saw the tribes embrace each other. What it is like to experience the joy of seeing someone you care for. What it is to..to…”
Before he could even react Amrit hopped on his hind legs wrapping his paws around Inari.
Amrit: To Love, you just want what every regular being desires. To know love, to know family. A mortal concern, a mortal desire. Though, even gods have been known to covet and seek it.
Inari's heart had been a frozen bastion tightly sealed behind layers of chains. He had no time to filter through things that didn’t carry any merit. Emotions, petty notions like family, and bonds were all frivolous to him. He only cared about the power of self, the naivety to believe in things that could not be seen was a weakness to him. Power, control, domination, possession. That was the only force capable of creating change. During his time in Acrix though, he was continuously reminded how wrong he was. But fury...rage those two were emotions. A pillar broke he expected to see the largest man there picking up the heavy stones. Instead, that man cared for the wounded and a group of smaller people collectively removed the rubble. When he first saw it it was ludicrous to him…now after all this.
He understood. Could his hatred be used to save?
"When I think about all that I witnessed, all that was stolen from me. I cannot help but hear the roar of fury screaming for release within me. The pain that I have endured, the agony sometimes I feel like I'm going to burst how it swells so."
His eyes continued to meet with that of his soul self. Though Amrit was sentient it was helpful to know that it merely spoke from the other angle of Inari's soul and reflection. Echoing the thoughts that he tried to hide from. Presenting him the paths he would not so readily walk. Like bouncing a ball off a wall within.
"I cannot flee or discard my fury nor shall I. What burns and howls from within me is part of what keeps me walking down this path. The power that your Omen, Primordial Red grants me, Amrit, the might perhaps It can though be repurposed and used for my aims and fired toward my ambitions. I need to embrace it as what unites me not sets me apart. Flame can burn, it razes the world around it to ashes if held with no regard. However a flame with a goal a purpose... can bring light to the darkness and warmth the the cold. That is what I wish to see...if I am truly capable of being someone other than a mindless raging beast."
Amrit would rise. The Fire burning beneath his master's glowing eyes once more.
"You will walk this path with me Amrit, shall we find the depths of your fury together and face whatever lies on the other side of the carnage?"
The spirit scoffed
"Enough of your sentimentality. Whatever we discover in the hells of your soul...know that we face them together."
